{"id":121955,"date":"2025-01-16T11:17:13","date_gmt":"2025-01-16T08:17:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/121955\/"},"modified":"2026-03-10T12:05:06","modified_gmt":"2026-03-10T12:05:06","slug":"reprisals-6550-people-prosecuted-for-political-reasons-since-2020","status":"publish","type":"articles","link":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/121955\/","title":{"rendered":"Reprisals: 6,550 people prosecuted for political reasons since 2020"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

January 16, Pozirk.<\/em> <\/strong>New cases of politically-motivated persecution were documented in Belarus on January 15 as the state-run ONT<\/em> TV channel aired a trailer featuring jailed REF\/RL<\/em> reporter Ihar \u0141osik, who was held incommunicado for almost 700 days.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mikita Jemialjana\u016d went on trial in Hrodna for allegedly disobeying the prison administration, the Viasna Human Rights Center reported. This charge is routinely used in Belarus to keep regime critics behind bars longer. Rights groups consider him a political prisoner.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Belarusian judges convicted 1,721 people, including 480 women, for political reasons last year, Viasna said in a new report. In the four years since 2020, at least 6,550 were prosecuted, including 1.380 women, while the human rights community has recognized 3,697 people as political prisoners, including 680 women.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Last year, at least 8,895 people faced various kinds of prosecution-related pressure, such as arrests, interrogations and searches. A quarter of victims were women. Courts issued at least 5,890 politically-motivated sentences under minor offense charges<\/a> in cases widely seen as politically motivated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A total of 71 persons have been recently convicted on terrorism-related charges in Belarus, including seven foreign nationals, Viasna said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As of January 16, human rights defenders identified at least 1,247 political prisoners but the real number is considerably higher because many cases go undocumented.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Seven foreigners convicted of terrorism in Belarus \u2013 Viasna<\/h3>\n
January 15, Pozirk. Belarusian judges have recently convicted seven foreigners of terrorism, the Viasna Human Rights Center said, noting that planned or committed civil disobedience is often blown out of proportion and presented as a national security threat. It identified …<\/div>\n \n